Life: Film Review

Life: Film Review

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson,Hiroyuki Sanada
Director: Daniel Espinosa

David Bowie - or more precisely, one of his most famous musical questions -proves to be the inspiration for Daniel Espinosa's tautly schlocky horror-space flick, Life.

High above the Earth in the International Space Station, a motley crew of nations is assembled, waiting to take on board a soil sample from Mars for analysis to see if anything existed.

But when the sample they bring on board does yield some form of life, it soon turns deadly threatening to kill off the six crew on board... and the future of life on Earth.

The chamber piece Life may be a spiritual successor and very reminiscent of Ridley Scott's Alien and many a Doctor Who episode where something lurks amok a base, but Espinosa's horror-cum-sci-fi cliche piece is actually startlingly effective in its execution and intense in some of its scenes.

Granted, the space staff on board are briefly sketched at best; Reynolds reprises a bit of wise-cracking edge from Deadpool as the engineer of the piece, Ferguson's gruff starched commander is all about the protocols and firewalls than the fuzzies, and Hiroyuki Sanada's pilot is given a new-born baby on Earth to raise his emotional stakes.

Perhaps more interesting is Gyllenhaal's David Jordan, a medic who's been in space for 473 days and prefers the hum of the spaceship to the evils that men do on the ground. He's afforded the deepest degree of character as the film progresses, but it's slim pickings all around.

Which is potentially no bad thing for Life.

This is not a film that wants to philosophise or put a lot of scientific debate or discussion, it's more interested in firing abject terror thanks to an overly bombastic soundtrack and series of relatively taut set-pieces.

It helps the creature, named Calvin by a lucky kid that wins a competition on Earth, starts off like a gelatinous star-fish before evolving into some kind of floating turtle / snake hybrid and is a fairly innocuous but fatal critter - it's not destined for horror infamy like the Xenopmorph, but it works its terror well as the film continues.

The dialogue in part is cliche as well - from lines like "I've got a good feeling about this" to "There's zero precedence for this!" that are ripped straight of Horror Movie Writing 101 to a meta reference to Re-Animator, this is a film that proudly and honestly wears its influences on its sleeve.

As the escalating schlock of the situation sets in and the horror movie trappings emerge with relative aplomb, Espinosa keeps the film rattling along at quite a pace and never really stops to let it breathe. The result is relatively tremendous, a terror-filled ride that's worth taking in the fashion in which it was intended.

From its opening shot of a blip hurtling across the stars to its shots high above the Earth and within the Space Station, the look and feel of Life is second-to-none. With its tight frame shots of the crew within the ship and wide shots of life outside in the vastness of space, complete with an evocative orchestral score, Espinosa manages to convey a sense of the infinite with the intimate in this claustrophobic thriller.

And there's a certain beauty in one of the crew being killed, hauled into a Messianic pose with blood globules floating in the zero gravity room around them - this is a film that gets the look and feel right, even if it does feel like something we've witnessed before.

While the end feels unnecessarily OTT with a Eureka moment coming a little too conveniently into proceedings, Espinosa and the cast are fully committed to the meshing of the horror and space genres here.

Make no mistake, Life is unashamedly a derivative but suspenseful schlockbuster that embraces its conventions with gusto.  It's actually also a tremendously slick and diverting popcorn ride too, despite its lack of more rounded human edges that kept the likes of Gravity and Alien afloat in the cold dark reaches of space.

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® Remastered - Variety Map Pack Trailer

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® Remastered - Variety Map Pack Trailer

The Variety Map Pack has arrived for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. It’s available now, first on PlayStation 4, and includes four epic maps along with 10 Rare Supply Drops.

  

The pack features classic maps that have been remastered in full HD glory across a range of different environments:

• Broadcast: Based on the TV station from the campaign mission “Charlie Don’t Surf”, this map provides a unique blend of confined corridors and wide-open spaces. Outside the station, the parking lot contains long sightlines, but once inside, cramped hallways and a computer-cluttered broadcast room provide ample close-range combat opportunities.
• Chinatown: Set in a foggy downtown district, this nighttime map is lit up by flickering neon signs and a full moon. A re-imagining of the original Call of Duty multiplayer map “Carentan”, players will need to be careful on these streets, as almost every building in the map can be occupied, providing perfect cover for enemies waiting for a chance to line you up in their sights.
• Creek: Set in a wide-open village ravaged by combat where concealment is the difference between life and death, a gaping ravine divides this map into two. Open clearings with sheer cliff faces and ample forested cover make this map ideal for snipers and long-range firefights.

• Killhouse: A small training warehouse filled with various building mock ups that feature soft and hard cover points. Expect fast-paced and fierce firefights for maximum close-quarters chaos.

Toukiden 2 hits March 24th

KOEI TECMO UNLEASHES TOUKIDEN 2 ON MARCH 24TH

Explore a Massive Open World and Hunt Hordes of Deadly Demons

in the Action RPG Series’ Brand New Narrative, Available on PlayStation®4 on March 24th

Sydney, 22nd March 2017 - KOEI TECMO is proud to announce this week’s release of Toukiden 2, the latest entry in the gripping series of demon hunting action RPGs developed by Omega Force. Offering a vast open world, new combat elements, fresh online features for up to four players, and a brand-new standalone story, Toukiden 2 launches on the 24th with a new trailer for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system.

In Toukiden 2, players will assume the mantle of a mysterious Slayer who has awakened after a ten-year slumber to a world shrouded in darkness. Players’ battle skills and strategic acumen will be put to the ultimate test as they strive to save humankind in a vast and dangerous land known as the Otherworld, a tattered landscape divided into six distinct Ages which each represent an era of Japanese history. Repel the soul-devouring Oni alongside Slayers from around the world in the game’s rich online environment.

Alongside a fresh and captivating narrative, the addition of Western lore-inspired Oni adds intriguing new adversaries to the Toukiden series. To combat these new looming threats, two series-first weapon types make their debut in Toukiden 2: the sword and shield, a combination offering a solid blend of offence and defence, and the chain whip, which allows for fast-paced maneuvers that can quickly tear apart Oni flesh. Each armament can be used for light and heavy attacks alike, and each offers special abilities that can be combined with a versatile, world-bending tool known as the Demon Hand to balance the scales of power when battling Oni.

Defeating Oni will free souls of fallen heroes known as Mitama, who are based on Japanese historical figures and can be utilised to power-up your character, weapons, armour and the Demon Hand. New to the Toukiden series, the element of Control is also empowered by Mitama, which specialises in summoning Oni to fight for the player!

One Thousand Ropes: Film Review

One Thousand Ropes: Film Review

Cast: Uelese Petaia, Frankie Adams, Beulah Koale
Director: Tusi Tamasese

Tradition, spirituality, family ties, ghosts of the past long forgotten and haunting melancholia mixes together in Samoan director Tusi Tamasese's latest film, One Thousand Ropes.

Blending together a slow-burning concoction of humanity and redemption proves to be a fertile narrative ground for this tale of Maea (Uelese Petaia, quiet and dignified, with hints of more bubbling dangerously under).

Living in a simple life in a run-down empty house in Wellington, and working daily at dawn in a bakery before providing Samoan traditional massage to pregnant women, Maea finds himself trapped in a modern world that appears to be turning its back on his old ways.

From old ways of kneading dough to old midwifery, Maea is stuck dealing with the consequences of how he's handled life - and haunted by a warrior-like spirit lurking in the corner of his house that he believes he freed during a massage session.

Things further reach breaking point, when the bakery he toils at brings in a machine to keep up the pace and Maea continues to lose business to the local church and their midwifery ways.

When his pregnant daughter (Shortland Street's Frankie Adams) returns home, beaten and battered by her partner, Maea finds his quest for redemption inadvertently renewed - but will the sins of his past ruin what's left of his future?

One Thousand Ropes is gloomy, bleak and slow-moving - and all the more powerful because of it.

It also has something of a commanding presence in among the darkness as Tamasese weaves intricately and carefully laid out details into the fabric of this Samoan story that the audience will have to work with to get the most out of. He did something similar with 2011's The Orator, which delivered an emotional punch of some considerable heft.

While One Thousand Ropes occasionally teeters on leading a little too slowly towards its denouement, its stripped back paucity and ominous foreboding build a terrifically-laced atmosphere that washes over those willing to spend a little patience in the cinema. It's already had good reviews out of Sundance and also the Berlinale Film Festival, and it's easy to see why.

Themes of redemption and reconciliation co-exist and coagulate in the mix, as the a-lot-said-but-little-spoken forlorn film plays out. The pay-off is tangible too, and while Tamasese leaves a lot for the audience to connect the dots, the selective way the emotional moments land and the truths are revealed deliver maximum impact as well.

Predominantly, this is due to Petaia's dignified turn, one which is understated and subtle. Etched on his face, the man once known as The Lion and who's encouraged to smash the perpetrator of his wife's beating lumbers with the guilt of the past and teeters with fragility on the brink of giving in. This is a turn that delivers so much by doing so little.

There's some terrific imagery too - from the succubus-like Seipua haunting Maea and strangling him to Maea's incessant kneading of the dough demonstrating his volcano-like emotions bubbling under, Tamasese does a lot with lingering slow shots, filling the frames of the film and providing more than screeds of dialogue ever could.

If you succumb to the rhythms and the slow-creeping power pace of One Thousand Ropes, the end result is quite unsettling and powerful. Weaving together both myth and personal tragedy are a potent mix for Tamasese, and despite the sedentary pace potentially putting some people off, it actually works in ways you could never expect.

Evocative, haunting and hard to shake, One Thousand Ropes is a timely reminder, once again, that small-scale intimacy works infinitely better than big screen bluster.

The Innocents: Film Review

The Innocents: Film Review

Cast: Lou de Laage, Agata Buzek
Director: Anne Fontaine

The fact The Innocents (Les Innocentes) is based on a true story makes its harrowing nature, at times, a little harder to bear.

Set in post World War II Poland, the film concerns itself with the jaw-dropping horrifying events at a convent. Our heroine is young female French doctor Mathilde (de Laage), who's working with the Red Cross.

Asked to enter a nearby convent, she finds a young girl in labour - and from there, the situation starts to unfold in as much gripping as terrifying ways as it plays out.

With some striking imagery, the director of Coco avant Chanel, hides some of the horrific darkness on offer here; scenes of white crisp snow at the convent mask the true nature of what lies within. And from dawn prayers and hymns, the sound of a woman's cries is utterly shocking.

The sound in The Innocents is utterly mesmerising; from the sound of cloister bells ringing clearly out, to quiet moments within, the atmospherics are completely entrancing.

It's fair to say that what unspools in Les Innocentes is not the easiest of watches, but Fontaine sensitively handles the mix of sexual violence and unspeakable horrors in such a way, that what actually transpires is as powerful as it is difficult to view. If many question their faith in the film, undoubtedly others will question theirs with what plays out

This tightly written and prestigely-acted piece knows never to revel in its horrors, both that men do and the life post a war inflicts on others, but it also knows that the silent power comes from within.

So, with a respectful score, and a lack of overbearing bluster to push home its message, The Innocents emerges as something quite unusual - a film about a rare set of horrors that ends up being more moving than you'd expect given its deeply troubling and real subject matter.

The Tickle King: Film Review

The Tickle King: Film Review

Funded as a Kickstarter in 2014, and released to equal parts critical acclaim and "WTF??" reactions, David Farrier and Dylan Reeve's Tickled, about the darker side of the internet, has now got a short film follow up.

With the original documentary ending with a few threads dangling and clearly implications of more to come, The Tickle King goes some way to giving both some closure for those with further questions, and Farrier and Reeve whose lives have already been swept up in the fall-out of the film.

With law-suits threatening them and screenings invaded by people trying to sabotage the film (and as a result, inadvertently giving more credence to the doco-makers), it's fair to perhaps suggest that Tickled was a film which would dog both Farrier and Reeve in future.

But the 20 minute short film / companion piece, The Tickle King doesn't seek to kick the hornet's nest any further - merely is a record of what exactly happened next.
And it's equally as fascinating and as bizarre as the original film that took New Zealand shores by storm in 2016, and the rest of the world shortly after.

Premiering after a screening of Tickled on the Rialto Channel on March 29th at about 8.05pm, The Tickle King brings more footage to light of what happened next.
From capturing the initial thrill of being at Sundance and getting the buzz the doco so rightly deserves to showing Farrier genuinely unsettled when it's revealed people in the audience appear to be taking notes or, in a move worthy of the first film itself, taping it from equipment inside a coffee cup, this bite-size extra travels further down the hole of weirdness for our enjoyment.

With the accolades come the legal threats and the shadowy tail-gating of Farrier as he goes about his business of promoting the film and dealing with the fall-out.
All expertly captured on film (and beautifully done so once again), The Tickle King simply shows the maelstrom hitting both Farrier and Reeve as they deal with the implications of coming across David D'Amato.

Essentially, it falls into 2 parts - one taking place in Sundance, and the other taking place at a now infamous screening in Los Angeles.

From the fake sites and attempts to discredit the pair by Kevin Clarke who appeared in the first film, the doco sheds more light on the incident where D'Amato confronted Reeve at the LA Screening of the movie at Nuart Theatre on June 18, 2016.

With extra footage from inside the Q&A where Reeve rationally tries to ask D'Amato to take part in the Q&A and even hushes the audience from booing him, this is once again an implicit representation of the duo's rationality and smarts in the face of what appears to be extremely irrational behaviour. The ability to step away from the situation and let it play out rather than prod at it is a credit to the duo. And there won't be anyone who silently seethes at D'Amato's implicit, yet somehow veiled, threats to Reeve about his being "a family man".

Certainly, these moments with D'Amato were missing from the first film, and not due to anything the duo had done, but simply because of the shadowy and slippery nature of their subject.
There's a truly fascinating and disturbing feeling here as it plays out, yet you can't help but admire Reeve for his calm, sensible composure in the face of it all.

It may look like the publicity's given the film an extra longevity after its initial release, but what the Tickle King shows about everyone's state of mind in the aftermath, is quite revealing.

And that's the thing with The Tickle King - it may give the fans more of D'Amato, but it still worryingly shows the story shows no sign of dying away as the film's released - and the madness and mania of the subjects exposed once again. With a subsequent screening on HBO, it's to be hoped all is quiet on that front, but when the extra ends, there's definitely a chill down your spine, thanks to the revelations of the credits.

Ultimately, if you've followed a lot of the post-Tickled fallout and subsequent media coverage, much of this will not be new to you. (Though it's still truly gob-smacking to see it all unfold on film).

But given there's a new audience who've come to the film, and there was a general desire to hear from the man involved, Farrier and Reeve are once again smart enough to know in the edit to step away from the camera and let the subjects do the talking.

This detachment serves them well, and gives a general feeling they're not pushing an agenda; once again, The Tickle King is simultaneously smart documentary-making and yet somehow, at its most ghoulish.


The Tickle King will premiere on the Rialto Channel on March 29th at 8.05pm after Tickled airs at 6.30pm.

Under The Shadow: DVD Review

Under The Shadow: DVD Review

Released by Rialto

Tapping into both childhood fears and mining a rich social setting proves to be fertile ground inBabak Anvari's psychological terror Under the Shadow.

Set in the Iran /Iraq war and using the genre conventions of a haunted house /superstitious myth, it's the story of Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi). Shideh has been fighting against the patriarchal society to get back to her studies as a doctor, but losing the fight, she's forced to take control of the household when her doctor husband is posted at a facility near the front line on military service.

But as the shadow of the war creeps closer to Shideh's Tehran apartment and the bombings come closer, she refuses to move out. And things get worse when her young daughter starts to believe they're being haunted by a Djinn....

As a first foray into the horror genre, writer / director Babak Anvari's Under The Shadow both simultaneously embraces the tropes of the genre and gives them a new spin, creating something that feels fresh and exciting. The slow burn of the set up allows you to really engage with Shideh's struggle, and then when Dorsa starts to feel threatened, the atmospherics are simply ramped up another notch. (Granted the idea of a kid under threat is perhaps where the film's creepiness really begins to kick in).

Anvari's embracing of autobiographical elements has clearly enhanced the look and feel of the film, but it's Rashidi as the feminist hero and first time child actor Manshadi who really propel proceedings into the stratosphere. Their interaction and the sneaking feeling that Shideh is losing it are nicely set up and in the initial part of the film the seesawing between who is right and who is wrong veers so clearly back and forth that you're never quite sure if the Djinn concept is anything other than in both of their heads.

Mining the rich vein of paranoia and foreboding with the war in the background and the shredding of nerves works wonders for the audience participation and engagement with Under The Shadow.

This is not a CGI driven shock fest, but an introduction of a new take on the genre that feels fresh, exciting and could potentially have legs for others to take over; it feels like even by saying so little, the mythology is deeply set up in this film - and the ending offers up the potential for more. The fact its societal setting says much gives a disquiet and insight that adds much to proceedings.

Original, slow burning and psychologically deft, the unsettling Under the Shadow is a clever take on its genre and it's one not to be missed.